Soil influence on sensor based landmine detection

Today more than 75 countries are affected by landmines and/or unexploded ordnance (UXO). Since landmines are one of the cheapest weapons they are widely used and remain as a deadly hazard to civilians even many years after the end of armed conflicts. The recent number of officially registered casualties is nearly 6000 per year whereas the number of unknown victims is high. One of the reasons for the broad spread of landmines is the low cost of production which is partially only between 3 – 5 USD. However, the costs for clearing of a single landmine are between 300 and 500 USD.  

Electromagnetic technique is widely used for the detection of landmines that are buried in soils. Among numerous search methods the metal detector remains the most common tool in landmine detection which is due to its low price and easy usability. UXO are usually easy to detect because of their high metal contents. In contrast, anti personnel mines are often difficult to find because of their low metal content which holds true in particular for modern mines.